Groin Injury Prevention

I just received a question by my friend, who're asked for groin injury and how to reduce it. Sports related injuries is one of the popular injury occur among athletes or the people who're prefer to enjoying a healthy lifestyle with exercise. Lack of the knowledge and social interaction with 'sportsman' among their loop, will let some people did not know how to prevent the injuries before it occur.

You may have had a minor groin problem at one time or another. Most of the time our body movements do not cause problems. It's not surprising that symptoms may develop from everyday wear and tear, overuse, or an injury.
The groin areas are located on each side of the body in the folds where the belly joins the legs. The pubic area lies between the two groin areas.




Groin injuries most commonly occur during:
• Sports or recreational activities, such as badminton, futsal, basketball, football etc.
• Work-related activities.
• Work or projects around the home.
• Motor vehicle accidents.

Groin problems and injuries can cause pain and concern. Most minor problems or injuries will heal on their own. Home treatment is usually all that is needed to relieve symptoms and heal.

Groin injury
An acute injury may occur from a direct blow, a stabbing injury, a fall, or from the leg turned in an abnormal position.Overuse injuries occur when too much stress is placed on an area. This often happens when you overdo an activity or repeat the same activity day after day. Overuse can lead to muscle strains or tears or may cause swelling, such as bursitis .

Other causes of groin problems
Groin pain not caused by an injury to the groin may be coming from other parts of the body. This is called radiating, or referred, pain. Pulled muscles , ligaments , or tendons in the leg may cause symptoms in the groin. It is important to look for other causes of groin pain when you have not had an injury.
An inguinal hernia is a bulge of soft tissue through a weak spot in the abdominal wall in the groin area. See an illustration of an inguinal hernia . An inguinal hernia may need surgical treatment. A sports hernia may affect the same area of the groin in competitive athletes.

Prevent groin injury and strain




Steps to prevent a groin injury or strain may include the following:
• Warm up by stretching the groin muscles before exercising. Stretching can increase your range of motion and reduce stiffness and pain. Stretching is also important during the cool-down phase of exercise when your muscles are warm.
• Increase the intensity and length of exercise gradually. As your fitness level improves, you will be able to do more intense exercise without injury.
• Try to exercise regularly; don't just go all out on weekends.
• Use proper sports techniques and equipment. For example:
o Wear supportive, well-cushioned shoes for running, aerobics, and walking.
o Properly adjust your bicycle seat and handle bars for your height.
• Drink extra water before and during exercise, especially in hot or humid weather. This can help prevent muscle cramps and stiffness.
• Make sure you can always see where you are walking. To avoid falls:
o Use a step stool when reaching for high objects. Do not stand on chairs or other objects.
o Don't climb stairs with both hands full.
• Get help carrying heavy or awkward objects. Do not strain to lift or carry objects.

Perhaps with some light reading, people will be more educated about sports related injuries for their own purpose and maybe will share with other people around.

Get in Shape after Ankle Sprain Injury

I received a message from one of Kakithon athlete, she told that she is suffering an ankle sprain injury. I already give a neutral treatment for the injury, but the important is to get back in shape after suffering a injuries weeks. Here is some of common self-improvement that can DIY (do it yourself) in handling suffering weeks ahead.

Limit Immobilization
Immobilization can cause significant problems after ankle sprains. Patients will feel better if placed in cast or a walking boot, but this can lead to a stiff ankle, delay rehab, and make their ankle prone to re-injury, if the immobilization is carried on for too long.

Injured ankle ligaments will form scar tissue while healing. This scar tissue is tighter, and less organized when patients have their joint completely immobilized. The ligaments heal with tissue that is the appropriate length and of better quality when ankle movement is initiated earlier. When the ligaments scar excessively, normal movements can become painful, and the ankle can be prone to re-injury.

Even if walking is painful out of a boot, patients should remove the boot several times a day to work on mobility exercises. These simple exercises and stretches can help the ligaments heal properly.

Range of Motion Exercises
Some simple exercises can help maintain ankle motion, and stretch the injured ligaments in the ankle joint.

Achilles stretches
Stretching the Achilles tendon can easily be started soon after sustaining an ankle sprain. While seated or lying down, take a towel and loop it around your toes. Pull the ends of the towel, pulling your toes upwards, and feel the stretch in the back of the ankle. Perform this 3-4 times a day for several minutes.

Alphabet writing
While seated or lying down, write the alphabet in the air with your toes. Make the letters as big as possible. Get creative by trying all uppercase, then lower case, then cursive, etc...

Strength Exercises
The next step in recovery from ankle sprains is strengthening the muscles that surround the ankle joint. By strengthening these muscles, you can help support the ankle joint, and help prevent further injury. Some exercises to perform after an ankle sprain include:

Toe raises
Stand on a stair or ledge with your heel over the edge. Stand up on your tip toes, then in a controlled manner, let the heel rest down. Repeat 10-20 times (each foot), 4 times a day.

Heel and Toe Walking
Walk on your toes for one minute, then on your heels for one minute. Alternate walking on your heel and toes, and work up in time to a total of 10 minutes, repeating 4 times each day.

Proprioceptive Training
Proprioception is the ability of your body to provide feedback to the brain. After an ankle sprain, the proprioception of the joint can be damaged, leading to problems controlling ankle movements.

The best way to simulate proprioceptive retraining, as well as work on range of motion and strength, is with a wobble board. Read on for information about how a wobble board can help with your rehab from an ankle sprain.

Activity-Specific Training
Activity specific exercises may include simply walking or jogging, or may be more intense for athletes who participate in basketball, soccer, or other sports. The key, no matter what level recreational or competitive athlete you may be, is to progress slowly. Begin at very low intensity, and very low duration of activity, and slowly work up--never suddenly increase either the intensity or duration of your activity.

Here is a sample progression

Jogging
Begin at 50% intensity. Jog 100 yards, walk 100 yards. Repeat 4 times. Increase intensity and duration over 2-3 weeks

Figure of Eights
Jog in a figure-of-8 pattern around cones. Begin with the cones near each other. Each day, spread out the cones and increase the speed.

Box Runs
Make a box of cones. Jog forward the first side, side shuttle to the right, run backwards, then side shuttle to the left. Again, increase the size of the box and the speed of the running each day.

Once these activities can be done at full speed with no pain, patients can resume their sport. More sport specific exercises can be given to you by a coach or trainer if needed.


The most important is the initiative to back to normal as fast as your physiology can. The mental toughness and self discipline will drive you right!